JP6064329B2 - Printing apparatus and printed matter production method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a method for producing printed matter.

  A printing method that expresses a normal color and a metallic color by forming dots by color ink (hereinafter also referred to as “color dots”) and dots by metallic ink (hereinafter also referred to as “metallic dots”) is known. (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP2009-233877A JP 2009-234170 A

  The problem of the prior art is that it is difficult to express and separate the glittery feeling and the shiny feeling due to the metallic color. “Sparkle sensation” means that a portion that appears bright and a portion that appears dark in the printed material varies greatly depending on the positional relationship between the light source, the printed material, and the observer, and is particularly large in local variation. . On the other hand, “shiny feeling” is the opposite of glittering feeling, where the bright and dark parts of the printed material do not vary much depending on the positional relationship between the light source, the printed material, and the observer. The fluctuation is small.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

Application example 1: a printing apparatus,
Forming dots in the first region with metallic ink;
Forming dots in a second region different from the first region by metallic ink;
The average distance between dots in the first region is shorter than the average distance between dots in the second region.

According to this application example, it is easy to express and distinguish between a glittering feeling and a shiny feeling using metallic colors .

  The “distance between dots” referred to here is the distance from the focused dot to the nearest one dot. When there are dots of a plurality of hues, the “closest dot” may be selected from dots of the same hue, or may be selected including dots of different hues.

  Furthermore, particularly when the dot occurrence rate is high to some extent, in the first region, the average distance between the dots is shorter than that in the second region, so that the probability that the dots overlap each other is increased. When dots are formed in an overlapping manner, irregular reflection is likely to occur, and a glittering feeling is expressed. The “dot generation rate” here is a value obtained by dividing the number of dots formed by the area.

Application Example 2: The printing apparatus according to Application Example 1,
A dot is formed for each pixel group,
By adjusting the positional relationship between the dots of the first pixel group and the dots of the second pixel group, the average of the distances between the dots in the first region is changed to the average of the distances between the dots in the second region. The shortening is made shorter.

Application Example 3: The printing apparatus according to Application Example 2,
The pixel group is a group of pass units in serial scanning.

  Application example 2 can be realized as in this application example, for example. Note that serial scanning refers to scanning the print head in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the print medium.

Application Example 4: The printing apparatus according to Application Example 3,
The shortening is performed by shifting the arrangement of dots formed in at least one of the plurality of pixel groups in the scanning direction of the serial scanning.

  According to this application example, shortening can be easily realized by using serial scanning.

Application Example 5: The printing apparatus according to Application Example 2,
A line head in which a plurality of nozzle rows are arranged in the feed direction of the print medium;
The pixel group is a group of the nozzle row unit.

  Application example 2 can be realized as in this application example, for example. The line head is a type of print head that is not scanned in a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the print medium.

Application Example 6: The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Example 2 to Application Example 5,
The shortening is performed by shifting the arrangement of dots formed in at least one of the plurality of pixel groups in the print medium feeding direction.

  According to this application example, it is possible to reduce the distance between the dots by using the feeding of the printing medium. In addition, when dependent on the application example 5, the shortening can be realized also by adjusting the discharge timing of the plurality of nozzle rows.

Application Example 7: The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Example 1 to Application Example 6,
Whether or not the average distance between the dots is short is determined based on the distance between the dots when the ratio of the dot occurrence rate in the first region and the dot occurrence rate in the second region is within a predetermined range. It is determined by comparing the averages.

  The distance between the dots usually depends on the dot generation rate. Therefore, it is preferable to define that the average distance between the dots is short based on the comparison result when the ratio of the dot occurrence rates in the first region and the second region is within a predetermined range.

Application Example 8: The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Example 1 to Application Example 6,
Whether the average distance between the dots is short is determined by normalizing the average distance between the dots in the first area by the dot occurrence rate in the first area, and between the dots in the second area. It is determined by comparing the average of the distance with a value normalized by the dot occurrence rate in the second region.

  It is preferable to employ this method particularly when the ratio of the dot occurrence rates in the first area and the second area is outside the predetermined range.

Application Example 9: The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Example 1 to Application Example 8,
The dot coverage in the first region is smaller than the dot coverage in the second region.

Application Example 10: The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Example 1 to Application Example 9,
The surface roughness due to the dots formed in the first region is rougher than the surface roughness of the dots formed in the second region.

Application Example 11: Printed matter production method,
Forming dots in the first region with metallic ink;
Forming dots in a second region different from the first region by metallic ink;
The average distance between dots in the first region is shorter than the average distance between dots in the second region.
According to this application example, an effect equivalent to that of the application example 1 can be obtained.
The invention described in any application example can be implemented as a category of a printed material production method, a program, a medium storing the program, and the like.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system 10. FIG. The block diagram of a print head. The flowchart which shows a dot data generation process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating printing processing. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of a glitter area | region and a shiny area | region. The figure which shows an example of the dot formation position by the ink of any one color. Explanatory drawing of the distance between dots.

1. Printing system (Figure 1):
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the printing system 10. The printing system 10 includes a host computer 200 and a printer 300. The host computer 200 and the printer 300 are connected by a USB cable 120. The host computer 200 transfers data for printing (hereinafter referred to as “print image data”) to the printer 300. The printer 300 prints an image on a print medium based on the print image data transferred from the host computer 200. This print image data is data obtained by converting display image data by a printer driver, and is dot data indicating the presence or absence of dot formation of each color for each pixel. The dot data generated by the host computer 200 has a blue noise characteristic. The display image data is for displaying an image on the display device 215 provided in the host computer 200.

  The host computer 200 includes a CPU 201, a RAM 203, a ROM 205, a display device controller 207, a keyboard controller 209, a memory controller 211, a hard disk drive (HDD) 213, and a communication interface (I / F) 220. These components are connected to each other via a bus 230. A display device 215 is connected to the display device controller 207. A keyboard 217 is connected to the keyboard controller 209, and an external memory 219 is connected to the memory controller 211. A USB cable 120 is connected to the communication I / F 220. The CPU 201 reads out the program stored in the HDD 213 to the RAM 203 and executes it in order to control the operation of the entire host computer 200.

  On the other hand, the printer 300 performs overlap printing with a resolution of 720 dpi and bidirectional 4-pass. That is, ink is ejected twice for each of the forward and backward paths of the print head for one raster line in the main scanning direction. The forward path corresponds to the first and third paths, and the backward path corresponds to the second and fourth paths. The printer 300 includes a CPU 301, a RAM 303, a ROM 305, a printing unit interface (I / F) 307, a memory controller 309, an operation panel 313, and a communication interface (I / F) 320. These components are connected to each other by a bus 330. A printing unit 311 is connected to the printing unit I / F 307, and an external memory 315 is connected to the memory controller 309.

  The CPU 301 reads a program stored in the ROM 305 to the RAM 303 and executes it in order to control the operation of the entire printer 300. The printing unit 311 is hardware for performing printing by ejecting ink onto a printing medium, such as an ink cartridge, a print head, or a platen that stores ink. The print head will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The operation panel 313 is a user interface for the user to make settings and instructions related to printing. This setting is a setting such as the type and size of the print medium. This instruction is an instruction to cancel printing or the like.

2. Print head (Figure 2):
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the print head 241 provided in the printer 300. The nozzle shown in FIG. 2 is formed on the lower surface of the print head 241. As shown in FIG. 2, silver (S), gold (G), metallic red (MtR), metallic green (MtG), metallic blue (MtB), metallic yellow (MtY), cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow For each of the colors (Y) and black (K), 10 nozzles are arranged on the lower surface of the head 241 along the sub-scanning direction. Among these, silver (S), gold (G), metallic red (MtR), metallic blue (MtB), and metallic yellow (MtY) are collectively referred to as a metallic color in this embodiment. In the drawing, the downward direction indicates the sub-scanning direction (direction in which the printing paper is conveyed), and therefore, the printing passes through the printing paper from the nozzle arranged at the top during printing. In the figure, the filled nozzle indicates that the metallic ink is ejected, and the hatched nozzle indicates that the color ink is ejected. Other nozzles indicate nozzles that are not used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, for the nozzle rows 248 to 253 for metallic ink, three nozzles that first pass through the print medium among the ten nozzles are used at the time of actual printing, and the rest. 7 of these are not used. For the color ink (CMYK) nozzle rows 244 to 247, among the ten nozzles, the four nozzles that pass the print medium first are not used, and the remaining six are used. Therefore, none of the fourth nozzle nozzles in the nozzle array is counted from the first nozzle that passes through the print medium.

3. Printing image data creation process (FIG. 3):
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of print image data creation processing. The execution subject of this processing is the CPU 201 provided in the host computer 200. The trigger for starting the execution of this process is that a print instruction is input through the keyboard 217.

  When starting this process, the CPU 201 acquires image data (step S410). This image data includes data indicating the gradation values of RGB indicating normal colors (RGB data), data indicating the gradation values of metallic colors (metallic data), and areas with metallic colors as glitter areas. And region data indicating whether the region is a shiny region. Next, the RGB data is converted into CMYK format data (step S420).

  Subsequently, halftone processing is performed on the CMYK format data and metallic data (step S430). Halftone processing is performed using a dither mask. The dither mask has a threshold value determined so that the dot arrangement has a blue noise characteristic. In addition, this dither mask is used for the arrangement of dots formed in pixels assigned to the first and second pass main scans (hereinafter referred to as “first half main scan”), and the third and fourth pass main scans (hereinafter referred to as “first scan”). The threshold value is determined so that each of the arrangement of dots formed in the pixel assigned to “second half main scanning”) also has a blue noise characteristic.

  In the dot data generated in this way, each pixel data with metallic dot formation is associated with data indicating whether it is a glitter area or a shiny area (step S435). This association is performed based on the area data described above.

  Next, printing image data is created by interlace processing (step S440). Subsequently, the created printing image data is transferred to the printer 300 (step S450), and this process is terminated.

4). Printing process (FIG. 4):
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the printing process. The execution subject of the printing process is a CPU 301 provided in the printer 300. The trigger for starting the printing process is that the printer 300 has received the image data for printing.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the glitter region and the shiny region. In the case of FIG. 5, there are two glitter areas (glitter areas A and B) and two shiny areas (shiny areas A and B). An area that is neither a glittering area nor a shiny area is an area where metallic dots are not formed, that is, an area where only color dots are formed or no dots are formed. The dotted lines shown in FIG. 5 indicate the width for one raster, that is, the range in which dots can be formed by one main scan. As shown in FIG. 5, each range is referred to as (a) to (h). The printing process will be described by taking the case of printing the image shown in FIG. 5 as an example.

  First, the printing unit 311 is used to send printing paper in the sub-scanning direction (paper transport direction) (step S510). Next, in the dot data included in the printing image data, the first half dots are formed using the printing unit 311 (step S520).

  The first half dot is a dot formed in a pixel assigned to the first half main scan among the dots designated in the dot data as having dot formation. Pixels are classified in advance in any of the first to fourth passes. The positional relationship between the pixels assigned to the first half main scan and the pixels assigned to the second half main scan is determined by a so-called task scheme (checkered pattern) (see FIGS. 6A and 6B). The positional relationship between the pixels in which dots are formed in the first pass and the pixels in which dots are formed in the second pass is such that the pixels in the first pass and the pixels in the second pass do not exist in the same column. An arrangement that alternates in the scanning direction is employed. The positional relationship between the pixels in which dots are formed in the third pass and the pixels in which dots are formed in the fourth pass is the same as the relationship in the first pass and the second pass. It has been adopted. A pixel group assigned to each pass constitutes each pixel group.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not there is a pixel associated with the glitter area in the raster where dot formation is possible at present (step S530). If it is determined that it exists (step S530, YES) (ranges (b), (c), (f), (g) in FIG. 5), the printing unit 311 is used for the amount of deviation for increasing the glittering feeling. The printing paper is sent (step S540). The amount of deviation will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there is a pixel associated with the shiny area in the raster in which dots can be formed at present (step S550). If it is determined that it does not exist (step S560, NO) (ranges (b) and (c) in FIG. 5), the Bi-D correction value is changed for the metallic dot (step S560), and then the second half dot (second half main) Dots formed by scanning) are formed (step S570).

  The Bi-D correction value is originally a correction value prepared for correcting a shift in the dot formation position between the forward path and the return path of the print head, and is a correction value for adjusting the timing of ink ejection. is there. Before the start of the printing process, a correction value is selected as the Bi-D correction value so that this deviation is close to zero. Specific contents of the change in step S560 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of dot formation positions with any one color of ink. FIG. 6A shows the position of the first half dot. FIG. 6B shows the position of the latter half dot. 6C shows the overlapping positions of FIGS. 6A and 6B, that is, dot formation positions in the entire four passes. FIG. 6D shows the dot formation position in the entire four passes when the latter half dot formation position is shifted.

  In FIG. 6, the horizontal direction in the figure corresponds to the main scanning direction, and the vertical direction in the figure corresponds to the sub-scanning direction. The forward path in the main scanning direction described above is a movement path from left to right, and the backward path in the main scanning direction is a movement path from right to left. The printing paper is fed from the top to the bottom of the figure. That is, the upper side of the drawing corresponds to the upstream side of the sheet conveyance, and the lower side of the drawing corresponds to the downstream side of the sheet conveyance.

  The dot arrangement in the entire four passes has a blue noise characteristic as shown in FIG. This is because the dot data of this embodiment has blue noise characteristics as described above. Further, each arrangement of the first half dot and the second half dot also has a blue noise characteristic as shown in FIGS. This is because the dot data of this embodiment is generated so that the arrangement of the first half dot and the second half dot also has the blue noise characteristic.

  On the other hand, in the dot arrangement of FIG. 6D, the latter half of the dots are shifted by two pixels rightward in the main scanning direction and 0.5 pixels upstream in the subscanning direction. The deviation in the main scanning direction is caused by step S560, and the deviation in the sub scanning direction is caused by step S540. That is, the Bi-D correction value in step S560 is a value corresponding to a deviation of two pixels in the right direction, and the printing paper feed amount in step S540 is 0.5 pixels on the downstream side.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether all the dots have been formed (step S580). If it is determined that there is a dot that has not been formed (step S580, NO), the process returns to step S510. When step S540 is executed, the feed amount in step S510 is obtained by subtracting the feed amount in step S540.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no pixel associated with the glitter area at the current position in the sub-scanning direction (step S530, NO) (ranges (a), (d), (e), (h in FIG. 5). )), Step S540 to step S560 are skipped, and step S570 is executed. That is, dots are formed at positions according to the dot data.

On the other hand, if it is determined that both the glitter area and the shiny area exist at the current position in the sub-scanning direction (step S550, YES) (ranges (f) and (g) in FIG. 5), the Bi-D correction value The second half dots are formed while changing (Step S565). Specifically, the same normal correction value as that of the color dots is adopted in the shiny area, and the correction value causing deviation in the main scanning direction is adopted in the glitter area. Such correction value switching is performed during main scanning. When the second half dot formation is completed, the process proceeds to step S580. Table 1 below summarizes the above processing.

  As described above, the setting as shown in Table 1 in the printing process is based on the following purpose. Basically, dots are arranged in the glitter region so that the main scanning and sub-scanning are not shifted in the shiny region, and in the glittering region, the main scanning and sub-scanning are shifted. However, by utilizing the fact that the deviation in the main scanning direction (for two pixels) is larger than the deviation in the sub scanning direction (for 0.5 pixels), even if there is a deviation in the sub scanning direction, there is a deviation in the main scanning direction. If not, you can think of it as a shiny area. When both a shiny area and a glitter area exist in the main scanning direction and each area is formed in the second half main scanning, this area is used (upper right in Table 1, S565). By doing so, a simple method can be adopted for transporting the paper, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the printing speed from being greatly reduced.

  If it is determined that all the dots have been formed after repeating the above process (step S580, YES), the printing process ends.

5. Effect (FIGS. 6 and 7):
By forming an image using metallic dots, a glossy printed material can be generated. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6D, the dot arrangement having the above deviation is shorter than the arrangement having the blue noise characteristic as shown in FIG. 6C. It has the characteristics of :) dispersibility is poor (dots are unevenly distributed), c) coverage is low, and d) the area where dots overlap. Furthermore, although it cannot be grasped from FIG. 6D, the above-described misaligned dot arrangement has a feature that e) the surface roughness is rough.

  The area where the metallic dots are formed by the arrangement having such characteristics expresses a glittering feeling. This is because when the metallic dots are unevenly distributed or formed by overlapping the metallic dots, the surface roughness caused by the undulation of the dots becomes rough, and irregular reflection is likely to occur. On the other hand, the area where the metallic dots are formed by the arrangement having the blue noise characteristic as shown in FIG.

  Here, the definition of “distance between dots” employed by the present embodiment will be described. 7A is an explanatory diagram of the distance between the dots when the distance is limited to the distance between the first half dot and the second half dot (hereinafter referred to as “limited pattern”), and FIG. 7B is the first half dot. It is explanatory drawing of the distance between dots when it does not limit to the distance with a latter half dot (henceforth "non-limited pattern"). 7A and 7B have the same dot arrangement. 7A and 7B, as in FIG. 6, dots with black hatching are the first half dots and hatched dots are the second half dots.

  The “distance between dots” in this embodiment is defined as the distance to the centroid of the closest dot with respect to the centroid of one focused dot. However, in the limited pattern, “one focused dot” and “closest dot” are limited to combinations of the first half dot and the second half dot. That is, if “one focused dot” is the first half dot, the distance to “the closest dot among the second half dots” is “the distance between the dots”. The same is true if the first half dot and the second half dot are interchanged. The “center of gravity” referred to here is the center of gravity when the dot shape is regarded as two-dimensional. That is, the shape in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of the printing paper is not considered.

In the dot arrangement shown in FIG. 7A, the “closest dot among the latter half dots” is the latter half dot Sb with respect to the first half dot Fa. Therefore, the distance LFa between the dots of the first half dot Fa is a distance for one pixel in the main scanning direction (hereinafter, “distance for one pixel” is expressed in units of “p”) and 2p in the sub-scanning direction. LFa = √ ((1p) ² + (2p) ² ) = √ (5) p This result is expressed as LFa: (Sb, √ (5) p). That is, it represents the relationship of the dot of interest: (distance between the dots of the closest dot and the dot of interest).

  Similarly, LFb: (Sc, √ (13) p), LFc: (Sb, √ (17) p), LSa: (Fa, 6p), LSb: (Fa, √ (5) p), LSc: ( Fb, √ (13) p), and the average distance Lav between the dots is 3.63p.

  On the other hand, in the non-limiting pattern, the “closest dot” may be the first half dot or the second half dot. As shown in FIG. 7B, the “distance between dots” of each dot is LFa: (Sb, √ (5) p), LFb: (Sc, √ (13) p), and LFc: (Fb 4p), LSa: (Sc, 4p), LSb: (Fa, √ (5) p), LSc: (Fb, √ (13) p), and the average distance Lav between dots is 3.28p. Become.

  According to the above method, the averages of the distances between the dots having the dot arrangements shown in FIGS. 6C and 6D are compared. When the limited pattern is adopted, the case of FIG. 6C is 2.10p, the case of FIG. 6D is 1.22p, and the ratio of both is 58.1%. On the other hand, when a non-limiting pattern is employed, (C) in FIG. 6 is 1.67p, (D) in FIG. 6 is 1.18p, and the ratio of both is 70.7%.

  As described above, in both the limited pattern and the non-limited pattern, the average distance between dots is shorter than in the case where there is no deviation. From the viewpoint of the effect on the glittering feeling, the non-limited pattern is more appropriate as an index. There is not much difference in the change in surface roughness caused by uneven distribution or overlap of dots, whether it is caused by the first half dot and the second half dot, or by the first half dot or the second half dot. It is.

  On the other hand, the limited pattern has a greater degree of distance reduction, and the effect of the printing process becomes obvious. This is because each of the arrangement of the first half dots and the arrangement of the second half dots has a blue noise characteristic, whereas the arrangement of all the dots has a characteristic in which a disturbance is added to the blue noise characteristics. Therefore, by limiting to the distance between the first half dot and the second half dot, the influence due to the disturbance is more emphasized, and the effect due to the deviation of the dot arrangement appears more remarkably.

By the way, the above comparison is based on the premise that both dot generation rates are the same. The dot occurrence rate is the number of dots with respect to the area. In the case of FIGS. 6C and 6D, since the number of dots formed is 18 and the area is 64p ² , the dot generation rate Id is Id = 18 / 64p ² = 0.28 / p ² . .

  However, the dot occurrence rate of the shiny area and the glitter area is not always the same. On the other hand, the higher the dot generation rate, the denser the dots are formed, the shorter the distance between the dots. In consideration of this phenomenon, a value normalized by the dot occurrence rate can be used as the distance between the dots. By using this value, even when the dot generation rate differs between the shiny area and the glitter area, it becomes easy to compare and verify the distance between the two dots.

  The normalization employed in the present embodiment is Lav × √Id, that is, a method of multiplying the average of the distance between dots by the square root of the dot occurrence rate. This method utilizes the property that the expected value of Lav is inversely proportional to the square root of the dot occurrence rate if the dot arrangement is constant. The value calculated in this way is called “normalized distance”. As can be seen from the fact that the normalized distance is a dimensionless number, the normalized distance is a value from which the influence of the dot generation rate is almost or completely excluded. Therefore, the comparison based on the normalized distance shows a reasonable result even if the dot generation rate is different.

  However, even if the dot generation rates are different, if the difference is small and within a predetermined range, a reasonable result can be obtained even if the comparison is performed using the average distance Lav instead of the normalized distance.

  Subsequently, the surface roughness will be described. The index adopted in the present embodiment is Ra (arithmetic mean roughness). Ra is defined by JIS B 0601-2001 (ISO4287-1997), and can be measured by a stylus type surface shape measuring instrument, a stylus type step gauge, or the like.

  For example, if an area of Ra = 0.297 μm or more and an area of Ra = 0.125 μm or less exist, the former can be visually recognized as a glitter area and the latter as a shiny area. These numerical values are examples, and do not correspond to (C) in FIG. 6 and (D) in FIG. The index of the surface roughness may not be Ra, but may be Rz (10-point average roughness), for example. By such a method, it can be verified that the surface roughness of the shiny region is rougher than the surface roughness of the glitter region.

6). Other embodiments:
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms within the technical scope of the invention. For example, additional components in the embodiment can be omitted from the embodiment. The additional components referred to here are elements corresponding to matters not specified in the substantially independent application example. For example, the following embodiments may be used.

  The example shown in FIG. 6 employs an ideal dot arrangement for the purpose of explanation. For this reason, the effect of shortening the average of the distances between the dots was noticeable regardless of whether the average of the distances between the limited patterns and the non-limited patterns or the distance between the dots was normalized. However, it is not necessary to obtain this effect in any combination, and it is sufficient that the effect is obtained in at least one combination.

  How much the average of the distance between the dots is shortened does not need to be as prominent as in the above-described embodiment, and it cannot be said that it is caused by an error. It only has to be shortened. “A degree that cannot be said to be caused by an error” may be proved by, for example, a significant difference in statistical processing.

  In the above-described embodiment, the positional relationship between the first half main scan (first and second passes) and the second half main scan (third and fourth passes) is shifted, but other combinations may be used. For example, the first, third and second and fourth passes, the first, second, third and fourth passes are conceivable. The path group may be divided into three or more, and the positional relationship may be shifted. For example, grouping into 1st, 2nd pass, 3rd pass, and 4th pass can be considered. In any case, the main scanning in the passes belonging to the same group is executed at the same position in the sub scanning direction.

  When the first, third, second, and fourth passes are employed, for example, the print paper is sent downstream by the amount of deviation when switching from the first pass to the second pass, and the second pass to the third pass is switched. The same deviation as the above-described embodiment can be realized by the procedure of returning the deviation by sending it upstream (back feed) and sending it again downstream (fore feed) when switching from the third pass to the fourth pass. .

  When both the glitter area and the shiny area exist in a width corresponding to one raster, the glitter area and the shiny area may be formed by separate passes. For example, the glitter region may be formed in the third pass and the shiny region may be formed in the fourth pass. At that time, a fore feed or a back feed may be interposed between a path for forming the glitter area and a path for forming the shiny area. Further, the fore feed and the back feed may be interposed other than the third and fourth passes.

  When both the glitter area and the area where the color dots are formed are formed with a width of one raster, the color dots are formed only in the first and second passes (that is, common to the glitter area) (that is, one main scan). There are two passes in which dots for forming a color area and a glitter area are arranged), and the third and fourth passes do not need to form color dots. In this way, color dots are not displaced in the sub-scanning direction. Alternatively, other formation methods may be used.

  It is possible to omit only the shift in the main scanning direction without generating the shift in the sub scanning direction. In this way, even when the first, third, second, and fourth passes are employed, it is not necessary to execute the complicated sub-scanning feeding procedure as described above. In addition, it is possible to prevent the color dots and the metallic dots in the shiny area from shifting in the sub-scanning direction. The shift of the color dots in the sub-scanning direction and the metallic dots in the shiny area is the same as in the above-described embodiment, in which the metallic dots of the shiny area and the glitter area are formed at the same position in the sub-scanning direction, or the color dots and the glitter area. This occurs when the metallic dots are formed.

  On the other hand, the shift in the main scanning direction may be omitted and only the shift in the sub scanning direction may be used. In this case, it may be realized by a line printer equipped with a line head. In the case of using a line head, in order to classify the pixels into a plurality of groups, it is preferable that neighboring pixels are assigned to different nozzles for the pixels arranged in the sub-scanning direction. In order to realize such assignment, it is preferable that a plurality of nozzle rows be arranged in the sub-scanning direction. When such a line printer is used, a shift in the sub-scanning direction can be realized, for example, by feeding printing paper and / or adjusting ink ejection timing between nozzle rows.

  A RIP (Raster Image Processor) may be used. This RIP performs, for example, halftone processing on data transferred from the host computer 200 and transfers dot data generated thereby to the printer 300.

The definition of the dot position is not limited to the center of gravity, and for example, the dot shape may be approximated by a circle to be the center of the circle.
The definition of “average distance between dots” may be different from that of the embodiment. For example, when the dot occurrence rate is a predetermined value or more, in addition to the distance to the closest dot, the distance to the second closest dot is It may be added, and may be further increased to the third and fourth. This is because when the dot generation rate is high, the probability of overlapping with a plurality of dots increases.
Any number of passes is acceptable as long as it is 2 or more.
The numerical values exemplified in the embodiment may be changed.
Any kind of ink may be installed in the printer 300 as long as at least one kind of metallic ink is included.
Some or all of the functions of the host computer 200 may be incorporated into the printer 300. For example, it is conceivable to incorporate a function for halftone processing into the printer 300.

In addition to or instead of changing the Bi-d correction value between the shiny area and the glitter area, correction values other than the Bi-d correction value may be changed between the shiny area and the glitter area.
Instead of bidirectional printing, unidirectional printing may be employed. In the case of unidirectional printing, it is possible to change the dot formation position for each pixel group by changing the ejection timing for each pass, and to shorten the distance between the metallic dots in the glitter region.
Regardless of serial head or line head, when using a head in which a plurality of nozzle rows are arranged, by changing the ejection timing for each nozzle row, deviation of the dot formation position for each pixel group is realized, and in the glitter region You may shorten the distance between metallic dots.
Instead of the two choices of the shiny area and the glitter area, the degree of glitter or the degree of glitter may be changed continuously. In order to realize this, for example, the amount of dot shift in the main device direction and / or the sub-scanning direction may be continuously changed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printing system 120 ... USB cable 200 ... Host computer 201 ... CPU
203 ... RAM
205 ... ROM
207 ... Display device controller 209 ... Keyboard controller 211 ... Memory controller 213 ... HDD
215 ... Display device 217 ... Keyboard 219 ... External memory 220 ... Communication I / F
230 ... Bus 300 ... Printer 301 ... CPU
303 ... RAM
305 ... ROM
307 ... Printing section I / F
309 ... Memory controller 311 ... Printing section 313 ... Operation panel 315 ... External memory 330 ... Bus

Claims (11)

Forming dots in the first region with metallic ink;
Forming dots in a second region different from the first region by metallic ink;
The average distance between dots in the first region is rather short than the average distance between dots in the second region,
The printing apparatus , wherein a dot coverage in the first area is smaller than a dot coverage in the second area .   Forming dots in the first region with metallic ink;
  Forming dots in a second region different from the first region by metallic ink;
  The average distance between dots in the first region is shorter than the average distance between dots in the second region,
  The surface roughness due to the dots formed in the first region is rougher than the surface roughness of the dots formed in the second region.
  Printing device. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein
A dot is formed for each pixel group,
By adjusting the positional relationship between the dots of the first pixel group and the dots of the second pixel group, the average of the distances between the dots in the first region is changed to the average of the distances between the dots in the second region. Printing device that shortens to a shorter length. The printing apparatus according to claim 3 ,
The pixel group is a group of pass units in serial scanning. The printing apparatus according to claim 4 ,
A printing apparatus that performs the shortening by shifting an arrangement of dots formed by at least one of the plurality of pixel groups in a scanning direction of the serial scanning. The printing apparatus according to claim 3 ,
A line head in which a plurality of nozzle rows are arranged in the feed direction of the print medium;
The printing apparatus, wherein the pixel group is a group of the nozzle row unit. A printing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 6 ,
A printing apparatus that performs the shortening by shifting an arrangement of dots formed by at least one of the plurality of pixel groups in a print medium feeding direction. A printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 ,
Whether or not the average distance between the dots is short is determined based on the distance between the dots when the ratio of the dot occurrence rate in the first region and the dot occurrence rate in the second region is within a predetermined range. A printing device that is determined by comparing the average of the printing devices. A printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 ,
Whether the average distance between the dots is short is determined by normalizing the average distance between the dots in the first area by the dot occurrence rate in the first area, and between the dots in the second area. A printing apparatus that is determined by comparing an average of distances with a value normalized by a dot occurrence rate in the second region.   Forming dots in the first region with metallic ink;
  Forming dots in a second region different from the first region by metallic ink;
  The average distance between dots in the first region is shorter than the average distance between dots in the second region,
  The surface roughness due to the dots formed in the first region is rougher than the surface roughness of the dots formed in the second region.
  Print production method. Forming dots in the first region with metallic ink;
Forming dots in a second region different from the first region by metallic ink;
The average distance between dots in the first region is rather short than the average distance between dots in the second region,
The printed matter production method , wherein the surface roughness due to the dots formed in the first region is rougher than the surface roughness of the dots formed in the second region .

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